WWE present Judgment Day tonight live on PPV from Chicago, IL. As always, we’ll have live coverage of the show right here at iFight365.com.

Ahead of the show, we’re taking a look ahead to how the night may pan out…

World Heavyweight Championship Match
- Edge (C) vs. Jeff Hardy

Mark Bright: I have the utmost confidence in these two producing a really good and memorable main event, and I say main event because surely this will close the show. They have been having good to great matches against each other for a decade, and both are so over in their roles that you could throw them out there in their sleep and it’d still be good and heated. The feud has been your basic ‘babyface wins a #1 contender match to get a title shot’ rather than having much interaction between the two guys besides the hot brawl at the end of last weeks show, but in a way that’s been good and necessary considering SmackDown has introduced a new cast of characters on top of the card following the draft.

I think Hardy’s promo on the go home show talking about how Edge loses the title always so quickly after winning them points to Edge actually retaining this time. The question is whether or not CM Punk will cash in Money in the Bank afterwards, and I’m thinking they hold off on this and actually have Punk announce his title shot ahead of time this year.

Michael Campbell: This should be a wonderful bout which should close the show, and hopefully it will. On Smackdown, the main title has lacked stability since Triple Humper dumped it to the fiendish Edge at Survivor Series. Edge then dropped it to Jeff a month later, but regained it in January. The World titles flip-flopped in February, in dramatic fashion at No Way Out, but the result was the same – Edge emerged with another title reign, fresh off another switch. He then gave way to John Cena at Wrestlemania, before regaining his strap at Backlash. That’s every blinking PPV since November we’ve seen the blue brand’s strap changing hands. Crazy. For that reason alone, I’d like to see Edge retain, and embark on a proper long-term run with the gold. I do love Jeff Hardy though, and it would be great to see him get a proper shot at being champion, but not now. This should be the MOTN, and I expect a relatively clean finish. Winner: Edge.

Phil Lowe: I’m looking forward to this one. They always work well together and the build for this has been decent. I expect it to close the show and I expect it to be very good if not great. At time of writing we’ve heard nothing to suggest Jeff Hardy has signed a new deal with WWE, so a title switch would be a surprise. The show is in Chicago, and CM Punk has been teasing cashing in his Money in the Bank title shot, so there’s a chance of that happening here also. That said, if the match does close the show, I don’t see it happening, a) because I think the feud with Umaga will continue past tonight, and b) because I’m still convinced that Punk will cash in his title shot and not win the title, which doesn’t make for a great PPV ending really. For me, Edge walks out with the title.

WWE Title Match
- Randy Orton (C) vs. Batista

Michael Campbell: Batista taking the belt here would be utterly insane. Randy’s 2009 has been horribly tarnished by some incredibly retarded booking, but yet, when he won the belt at Backlash, their was a gasp of relief and a palpable excitement. To withdraw from that and go back to the gold being on Big Dave would be a horrendous mistake. Dave just isn’t the same performer he once was and is desperately in need of a heel turn, although ironically, so is Triple H. I think the WWE are aware of all of these factors.

I’m not sure if HHH is going to appear, although I heard the original plan was for a run-in at this event. However, I’ve since heard he’ll be out a while longer. Either way, expect wacky shenanigans and either a DQ, or a post-match angle. Dave may simply find himself losing by disqualification, furthering his heel frustrations. Winner: Randy Orton.

Mark Bright: Although I’m a huge fan of Orton’s, I find it impossible to care about this match. The good thing is that they know each other so well from basically growing up together in the company and working as opponents so much as well, plus Batista usually brings his working boots in his big matches, so the match itself should be fine.

But Batista is the weakest babyface ever. He has won precisely one big match in the last two years and failed on a number of ocassions. And even in his one big win, he returned the job just eight days later and was back to being a loser. If this is kept up, people will stop buying into him as a top guy because no matter how people try to say it doesn’t, wins and losses are still important in being a star in pro wrestling.

Orton is winning here I’m sure, and it seems perfect that another loss will tip Batista over the edge and turn him heel to freshen him up, but again I’ve been saying that for years. The reappearance of ageing, out of shape Shane McMahon being treated as an equal to not just Legacy but also Orton, is a real sore point for me in this feud. Shane is the bosses son and that’s the only reason he’s on TV, and everyone knows that.

Phil Lowe: What to do? Batista sucks as a babyface and more often than not sucks in the ring. However, we know that Big Dave is capable with the right opponent and on the right stage. But while he may put on a performance on a PPV, there’s no escaping the fact Batista does not look 100% fit, he’s slowed down a lot since his most recent return and he’s not had a lengthy singles match in a long time.

Orton as champion has been pretty poor through bad booking and no fault of his own. Because his run as champion as been poor, I’d be tempted to say have him drop the title. But that would only result in Orton being Orton’d again, so for me, the belt has to stay on Orton and hopefully WWE can book the guy properly over the next few weeks. Triple H could return tonight to further Batista’s eventual heel turn although I think it could be another few weeks before he comes back.

ECW Title Match
- Christian (C) vs. Jack Swagger

Phil Lowe: The belt will certainly go back on Swagger at some point, although tonight does seem too quick as there’s mileage in this feud yet. Christian is over regardless of whether or not he has the belt and these two are working well together. I guess what happens next depends on whether Vince wants to shake up the third brand after last Tuesday’s stinker of a rating.

Michael Campbell: Unless they’ve got something completely odd up their sleeves, I would imagine Christian will retain here. Otherwise, why bother giving him the belt for a month? Unless Vince throws a wobbler at ECW’s rating this past week (it’s lowest ever), and blames it on a TNA guy, there’s no need to rush the gold back onto Swagger. He’s had a mini-programme with Dreamer on the go and if Tommy does depart from the company, or at least active wrestling, a babyface title bout with Christian could be the way to go (although I’d have him go heel, and be EXTREME in an attempt to take the title, before honourably passing the torch). Getting beat again by Swagger isn’t going to mean much. Anyhows, who gives a fuck about the ECW title? The third brand is providing quality entertainment, and I expect no less from this effort. As far as I’m concerned, the belt may mean nothing, but the show’s pretty damn good. Winner: Christian.

Mark Bright: I think Swagger gets the belt back here, simply because I think Tommy Dreamer is getting the title shot at the Extreme Rules PPV and that works better with a heel champion. I wouldn’t personally have a problem either way as far as the brand moving forward, and I see these two switching the title back and forth throughout the next several months – something which I have no problem with as I feel an even feud will elevate both men.

Swagger has shown great potential, and Christian knows how to work exactly the kind of matches WWE want from their midcard talent, so much so that it became a problem for him in his spell in TNA. This is a great feud for both men, and one that I’m glad is taking place as the main angle on ECW rather than as second on the card on RAW or SmackDown – another plus point for the idea of the brand split. The match should be really good, if given the time it deserves and not five minutes as a middle of the card throwaway.

Intercontinental Title Match
- Rey Mysterio (C) vs. Chris Jericho

Mark Bright: I’m hoping that Rey’s injury he picked up on Superstars was a minor problem that will have cleared up by tonight, because this could be the match of the night. It’s been talked about that Jericho has an idea for a long term storyline with Rey and this will presumably be the start. And if it’s the start of a long angle you would think the heel goes over, but I don’t think that’s what will happen, unless Rey loses by countout or something to play up his injury, which would give Jericho an out to continue his conspiracy character.

The house show reports have had this down as match of the night from the last several weeks, and considering they’re on the same card as Edge v. Jeff on most nights, that is high praise, and it’s also a match between two big stars that feels fresh, in fact as far as I remember they haven’t faced each other since a feud as lower-card guys in WCW eleven years agom so I’m very excited for this.

Michael Campbell: I’m looking forward to this one, despite Rey’s recent injury. That poor fella sure is a battered individual. At this rate, I can’t imagine he has much left in him, which is unfortunate because I had high hopes for his IC title reign.

A couple of weeks ago, I would have guessed Jericho would fail to capture the IC title. What’s the point in putting that strap on him for like the three-billionth time? But now, given Rey’s injuries, I’m going to guess they’ll switch the belt. Hopefully then, he’ll drop it to John Morrison, and move on to a feud with either Hardy or Punk. If Rey’s up to it, this should be a belter. Winner: Chris Jericho.

Phil Lowe: This has the potential to steal the show, although how much they can do will depend on Rey’s injury. All reports indicate they’ve been tearing down the house on the house shows so if Rey can go, this should be awesome. I think even if Mysterio is capable of putting on a good match, Jericho should still win the title tonight. Rey works better as the underdog chasing the gold and these two could go right through to Summerslam before Rey picks up the belt again.

- John Cena vs. Big Show

Mark Bright: I might be alone in the writers on this site for having very high expectations for this match. Cena, as seen by having a shockingly decent match with The Great Khali and also genuinely great matches with Umaga, works fantastically as the underdog against a monsterous heel. It’s classic pro wrestling at it’s absolute finest, and Big Show is great as a monster because he has the size and his punches are believable and over because they’ve been built up over time.

I know I will mark out like a five year old for Cena doing a power spot when blocking Show’s punch by grabbing the fist, and also when he delivers the F-U, which I expect to be the finish of this match, unless they’re going with Cena selling injuries in which case a referee stoppage for Cena being unable to defend himself should be the way to go…although there is a risk in booking that finish in that it may come across to the live fans as them being ripped off. These two had an excellent match on Smackdown in the lead-up to WrestleMania, and I expect more of the same here.

Michael Campbell: Ugh, I can’t imagine this will be pretty. Show’s no Jericho and no Edge, so I struggle to see this rematch (for the umpteenth time) being anything other than a snore-fest. Expect short-cuts, brawling and, well, more brawling. With both World title bouts likely heading to heel victories, I think they’ll go with the heroic win here for Cena, but Show will get his heat back post-match. Winner: John Cena.

Phil Lowe: I’m not looking forward to this match. To his credit, Cena often delivers against bigger opponents, but the build for this just hasn’t worked, in my opinion. Can they top the bump Cena took at Backlash? Will we get a screwy finish? I don’t see Cena losing clean, but I can see Big Show somehow getting a win – possibly with the referee stopping the match.

- CM Punk vs. Umaga

Michael Campbell: For me, the conventional logic here is that Punk will lose, through a clean pinfall, because Judgment Day is taking place in his hometown of Chicago. The WWE love to screw with us that way. However, unless they’re building Umaga up for The Undertaker in the summer (long-rumoured that one, eh?), or continuing this feud, I don’t see why Punk should lose. He needs the Babyface momentum right now, and a win for The Straight Edge Superstar would pop the crowd in the opening bout. Winner: CM Punk.

Mark Bright: This is another match that should be really good. Punk in his hometown getting a fair fight against the monster who has sneak attacked him several times is a good dynamic, and I’m more than confident they can deliver this in the ring, and if Punk isn’t cashing in Money In The Bank then you’d expect that they’d need to have a brutal match or a big angle at the finish for that to make sense. The match being in Chicago and WWE’s penchant for having people lose in their hometown suggests Umaga wins here. It’s maddening and it’s wrong, but that does tend to be WWE’s attitude to these things.

Phil Lowe: I’m looking forward to this, although I fear the worst for Punk as WWE love to show up the hometown guy. Regardless of the finish, I think this feud will continue past tonight and we have the possibility of Punk cashing in his title shot, which as I wrote earlier, I think will eventually see him losing to Edge when he does cash in – it has to happen one year with the MITB winner after all. Umaga for me has always been booked poorly when it comes to facing a main event level heel and I hope this run sees him given a chance to shine rather than being the guy who beats midcarders and is the job guy for main event babyfaces. The result here for me doesn’t matter either way providing WWE book it right, but considering Jeff Hardy could be on the way out, Smackdown is lacking babyfaces, and jobbing Punk out would see like a crazy thing to do.

- John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin

Mark Bright: I have no idea why this has been added to the card. Morrison beat Benjamin twice in singles and pinned Haas on SmackDown when Team Angle reunited, so to me the feud is over. The only way to book this is for Benjamin to lose again since Morrison is getting a singles babyface push and a loss to Shelton would seriously derail the push, yet that really buries Shelton just two days after Team Angle reunited. Meanwhile the WWE have started a really interesting feud with Dolph Ziggler v. The Great Khali which could use a spot on this PPV, and also put together the New Hart Foundation, and a match against lets say Evan Bourne and Finlay would not only rule but showcase them as a hot new team if they had this spot on the PPV instead.

Phil Lowe: Added to the card late and it does seem like filler. Morrison’s babyface push has come from nowhere and I’m not yet sold on it. So while you’d say Morrison needs the win, jobbing out Benjamin when he’s just got back together with Charlie Haas makes no sense either. All I ask for here is a solid match which hopefully doesn’t bury either guy.

We’ll have live Judgment Day coverage here at iFight365.com tonight from 7.45pm EST/12.45am UK time – be sure to join us!